Results: :
In the saline-treated animals, (1) intraocular inflammationwas first detected at day 11, became progressively severe andpeaked at day 19; (2) MHC class II expressions were upregulatedprimarily on the splenic CD4+ T cells and CD11b/c+ macrophagesover EAAU disease progression, and remained at a high levelat day 25; (3) CD4+ T cells were the major leukocyte populationinfiltrated in the anterior chamber; and (4) the levels of IL-2,IL-17, IL-1β, MCP-1 and RANTES were markedly increasedin the AH. When given systemically, CsA almost completely preventedthe development of EAAU disease at all measures conducted asabove (≥ 92% inhibition, p<0.001). When given topically, Restasissignificantly reduced the severity of EAAU at the peak of intraocularinflammation on day 19, as determined by a decrease in clinicalsigns, inflammatory cell counts (84% ↓, p=4.5E-05), protein exudatesin AH (60% ↓, p<0.005), and the levels of IL-2 (72% ↓, p<0.011),IL-17 (74% ↓, p<0.026), IL-1β (65% ↓, p<0.013), MCP-1(81% ↓, p<0.005), and RANTES (87% ↓, p<0.001) in AH. MHCclass II expressions on splenic leukocytes were not significantlyaffected by topical Restasis treatment.